Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Welcome back for another Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge! This week's hostess is the amazingly creative Allison and the theme is "Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue" (FTTC231)!

You can read all of the details here, but you must incorporate something old from your stash, your newest stamp set, a "borrowed" card design from the Flourishes Gallery, and something blue...how fun! The card does not have to be a wedding card though.

My "borrowed" card design is loosely based on this beautiful card from Cindy Lawrence. I loved the use of the pierced frame die. My "new" is the stamp set Dahlias. My "old" is the pearl flourish that I have had squirreled away for quite some time now and I think it fits perfectly here. And I think you can see my "blue" in the papers and sponged on my frame die. I just love this stamp set, the sentiment fonts are so fun and are very versatile. As you can also see, I am still on a gold leafing kick so this one got the "royal treatement" too. The detail on this stamp is so incredible...

I hope you will be able to play along with us this week...remember, you could win a prize and the odds go up if you use Flourishes stamps! Before you get to work on your creation, you should check out all of the beautiful inspiration from my team mates....and make sure you leave them a little blog love while you are there! I hope you have a wonderful day and I am so glad you could stop by for a bit! Take care!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Hi everyone and welcome back for another Timeless Tuesday Challenge! Today, I am the hostess and my challenge to you is "Christmas in July"...but with a catch! You have to make a card that is semi flat for mailing....so no lumpy bumpy envelopes or big bows on this one(FTTC230)!

I did say semiflat so there is a tad of wiggle room....mostly for me, because I don't do many completely flat cards...lol! You can see all of the details here. So here is my completed card for the challenge...

I used two stamp sets for this card. The holly is from Naturally Merry and the sentiment is from Trimmed with Love. I stamped my holly and berries on Flourishes Classic White card stock then colored them in with copics and then fussy cut a few sections out to frame my sentiment. The card is made using the Spellbinders' set Radiant Rectangles. I cut out my shapes using Flourishes' Classic Ivory card stock, edged some in Ranger's Antique Linen Distress Ink and then in my trusty Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen and then reassembled them on my card base. I stamped the sentiment, added my holly leaves and Voila....instant semi flat Christmas card! As a final step, I did use some Ranger Glossy Accents on my berries to give them a little shine. I also used a product that the amazingly talented Jenny Gropp told me about...Collall. It is a silicone product that acts like a glue and gives some dimension all in one. I had a brief learning curve with it (i.e. I made a mess the first time with it...lol) but once I got the hang of it, this works great! You can actually shape your fussy cut pieces and this product will hold its shape while giving a little dimension..and best of all, it dries clear. I got mine at Impressive Ideas on a recent shopping trip and I do think this will be a staple in my crafting. Here is a close up so you can see the detail of these amazing holly leaves, berries, and the beautiful sentiment.

Isn't the detail on the die cuts beautiful too? I love this die set! Well, I hope you have gotten inspired to make your own semi flat Christmas card, but don't stop here...you will find inspiration galore by checking out my team mates' creations...I am sure they will be gorgeous! Oh, and if you haven't heard....Flourishes is having a Christmas in July SALE! Yes, you read that right....ALL of their Christmas stamps are 25% off through July 31st! You can read the details here. Hope you can play along with us this week, link up your project at Flourishes and you could win a prize! Your odds go up if you use Flourishes' stamps! So come on and play and get a head start on your Christmas cards! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Hello there and Happy Tuesday to you! I am back with another Timeless Tuesday Post...today our hostess is the wonderfully talented Jenny and she has challenged us to "Make it Mini"! That's right...make a mini card....or a set of three mini cards to be exact (FTTC229). Aren't mini cards just the cutest thing....and they are kind of like potato chips, you can't just have one, am I right? You can see all of the challenge details here.

First, I decided to use the Strawberries set then midway through my first mini card I decided to add other berries too, so I also used the new Berry Sweet Frames set. I just couldn't commit to one berry, I guess....I love them all so much! :) These minis are really simple in design....just a few square layers. I didn't even use a single die to make the cards, just straight cutting on my paper trimmer. I stamped the different berries and colored them in with Copics and added sentiments for each. Then I paper pierced them, sponged on a little distress ink and added them to my cards. Here they are all lined up and waiting for their close up....

I also took photos of each one so you could better see the detail in each stamp....they are such lovely images!

The strawberry...

The Blackberry...

And last, but not least, the cherry...

Once I had finished all of my cards, I had the idea to make a little holder to keep them in for a future gift. I stumbled across an adorable berry basket on the Silhouette America site and purchased it for my Silhouette. I proceeded to accessorize my basket with a bloom I created from Spellbinders' Blossom Three and Circle nestie sets, a couple of ribbons (Mrs. Bonnie I am using your red ric rac ribbon!) and a couple of little strawberries that I made from another Silhouette cut file....a strawberry box. I sized it way down so it would be teeny tiny! And here is the finished project with my little berry basket to hold my mini cards...

I am definitely going to be making more of these for little gifts! I never think to make mini cards, so thank you so much Jenny for this awesome challenge! Now make sure you check out all of my team mates' projects....there is a lot of incredible inspiration out there just for you and when you are done, why not make your own set of mini cards? You could win a prize for playing along, so c'mon and play! Looking forward to seeing all of your creations and thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a great rest of the day!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Hello everyone and Happy Tuesday! This is absolutely my favorite time of the month....reveal time! Welcome to Day 1 of Flourishes July Reveal WeekAND our Timeless Tuesday Challenge! Since the beginning of Reveal Week coincides with the Timeless Tuesday challenge you are going to get to see creations from both the Senior Design Team AND the Friends of Flourishes Design team, so you are going to have more inspiration than you know what to do with!! :) The wonderfully talented Deborah is our hostess this month and the theme of the challenge is "Seeing Clearly" (FTTC228). All you need to do is incorporate acetate in your card! Piece of cake, right? You can check out all of the details here. But first, are you as excited as I am about seeing what Flourishes has to offer this month?!? We are simply giddy about introducing our first of FOUR new stamp sets this month. Don't forget, you'll have many instances to WIN some of our new stamp sets for your very own! So let's get started!! Here is our first new stamp set...

Don't these look as though they have been fresh clipped from the garden? These breathtaking Dahlias would be a prize on any card or creation. Illustrated by Marcella Hawley, this 4" x 6" set features two gorgeous main images plus five all occasion sentiments, perfect for all kinds of creations! And here is one way to win this gorgeous new stamp set for your very own...

You need to find out who today's Mystery Blogger is! Hidden among the Design Team is one Designer who has this set to give away. Comment on that blog and you could win today's beautiful Dahlia stamp set!

Now, on to our Timeless Tuesday Challenge....

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this Dahlia image! Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers so I was ecstatic to see this stamp set. The acetate was a bit of a challenge because I have not really done much in the past with it. I made a little acetate window for the sentiment. My first attempt to heat emboss on it ended up a warped and jumbled up mess but I was not going to be deterred! I tried again with much better success. The key is to let your heat gun heat up for a bit before you start embossing and then to move your heat gun on and off of your image until your embossing powder has melted. I did still have a tad bit of warping but by the time I adhered it to my die cut, you really can't tell! And speaking of die cut....SIGH...this is the newest member to my die family....isn't she beautiful? I recently purchased this at my most favorite stamp store ever, Impressive Ideas. It is a bit of a trip for me, but so totally worth it! The ladies there are the nicest people and the store is chock full of stamps, paper, ink, ribbon, dies...you name it! The minute you walk in, you just feel at home! I can't wait for my next trip there! The die set is from Marianne Design and it came with all of the dies to make this card plus one more that I didn't use! I have been saving her for a really special card and this stamp set was perfect! I edged that gorgeous panel in another favorite of mine, the Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing pen. If you have read many of my posts, then you know I have a love affair with this pen...it really gives it a classy edge, don't you think? And speaking of classy....here is a close up of this amazing stamp image...

The detail in this image and the sentiment is unbelievable and I cannot tell you how fun it was to color! You are wanting this set now, right? Well, you can win it....all you have to do is get those fingers to typing and leave some blog love for our design team! Remember, one of them is the Mystery Blogger! And after you finish with that, then get those fingers inky and enter our Timeless Tuesday Challenge! C'mon, it'll be fun AND you could win a prize that way too!! With all of the beautiful inspiration you are sure to find with all of these wonderful designers, there is no reason not to play along! I am so glad you stopped by today and I'll be looking for your creations! Have a great day and remember to check the Flourishes site tomorrow for Day 2 of Reveal Week!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Happy Tuesday everybody and welcome back for another Timeless Tuesday. I am so glad you are here! Our hostess this week is the wonderfully talented Judy and she has a great challenge for us this week...Going in Circles! Create a circle card (FTTC227). How fun is that?! You can read all the details here.

For my card, I decided to make a Twisted Circular Easel Card. There is a great tutorial for this card here. I have made one of these before but it has been a while....they are a lot of fun to make! I also decided to make this a baby card....I used the Hello Baby stamp set AND also another stamp set....do you recognize it?

On the little tag there are some pennants from the S'more Fun stamp set! I stamped off once before stamping them in Memento Espresso Truffle ink onto my sentiment tag. The onesie is also stamped in Espresso Truffle ink. My sentiment is stamped in MementoTuxedo Black ink. I used my copics to color in the onesie and pennants and an Atyou Spica clear pen to give it a little sparkle on the pennants and the snaps on the onesie. Here is a little closer look, although I don't think the sparkle is really showing up on the pictures....

The card base was made with Spellbinders' Picot Edge Circles and Classic Circles Large Nestabilities. The sentiment tag was made with Spellbinders Label Twenty-Two and sponged with a little Ranger Antique Linen Distress ink. I did some random stitching on the machine for a little interest on the borders. My blue gingham paper is from the last piece I have of it. It is from Making Memories and I am not sure they make it anymore....I have had this for quite a while (I tend to hoard some of my most favorite papers...lol) but I had to use it on this card! The other patterned paper is from Carta Bella's Traditions 6x6 paper pad and was left over from the Anniversary Card I did a couple of weeks ago. The onesie and sentiment tag were stamped on Flourishes' Classic Ivory card stock. The neat thing about this card is the way it opens..it kind of twists open and then props up like an easel...hence the name!

For the inside, I added the sweet little sentiment from the baby set, some ribbon, buttons and a star with a bit more of the gingham paper cut as a banner. The front of the card props on the ribbon and button strip so it could be displayed opened like this. As you can see, there is minimal coloring here and really, you wouldn't even have to color it all, maybe just a little sponging for those who are not huge fans of coloring. The set is adorable and very versatile!

Just look at those cute little booties....soooo precious!

So, hopefully now you are getting inspired to make your own circle card...but don't stop here! Be sure to check out all of the beautiful creations by my team mates and make sure you leave them a little love when you stop by! After you finish your card, make sure you link it up to the challenge! If you use Flourishes stamps, your odds go up to win a prize! So good luck and Happy Stamping! :) And, if you look below, we have a new Guest Designer with us this month....Margaret Gilmer. I am so happy to have you with us this month, Margaret! Can't wait to see all of your lovely creations!

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FTC Disclosure Statement

In the spirit of full disclosure, I currently work as a freelance designer in some capacity for the following company: Power Poppy. While I am compensated by this company, either monetarily or in product, I still maintain the freedom as an independent designer to say what I truly think of their products. I will never recommend something that I don't personally use and enjoy.